War of the Dragons - Chapter 12
He waited.Arcantos wasn't sure who he was, or why he was so important, but the dragon knew what he had done... he was the voice that came from within, he was the one that answered his call for help, and ensured his survival against the storm crystal. Now, in this realm of dreams, he waited at the top of the mountain, and Arcantos felt his call from the very soul of his being.Before him rose up sharp sheer cliffs, soaring up to the sky above, with Arcantos barely able to see the lip of the top from where he stood at the base. The winds howled around them, rushing past his scales, chilling his body and telling the dragon that flight was no possibility here. No matter, the army ensured that their dragons could traverse the environment without their wings. He might not have any safety equipment, but climbing was a task he could do.Finding the handholds and footholds was difficult, especially as whenever he let go with just a single limb, the winds took hold of Arcantos, threatening him to tear him off completely and throw him down to the earth below. But, keeping at least three limbs gripping the rock face at all times, Arcantos slowly ascended up the cliff, edging his way up to the goal.Yet, the cliff top never seemed to become closer, and his muscles began to burn at the effort it took not just to hold his weight against the rocks, but also push it upwards at a near sheer vertical degree. Every second that ticked pass, the winds seemed to grow
in strength, and the fire blazing through his limbs grew in power. Yet, Arcantos strove on, determined and stubborn. For a full hour he pushed himself upwards and onwards, climbing higher and higher, never once stopping for a rest or break. Knowing that he would get no respite until his goal was reached. Yet, it still seemed that the top was no closer when the winds suddenly roared out, their strength multiplying rapidly. Even with Arcantos clinging to the cliff with all four of his limbs, the winds tore him off like he was paper, and sent him plummeting to the rocks below.* * * * * * *It was with a start that Arcantos woke, staring up at the strange ceiling in the darkness of the night. In his disoriented state, it took him several moments to realize and remember where he was and why he was here. Once that was in mind, Arcantos slowly sat up, mindful not to disturb the cat sleeping by his side, as he looked towards the window where the moonlight streamed through.He did not go to it however, and turned his attention to the second bed in the room, and the dragon sleeping within it. Whilst it wasn't strictly forbidden for a dragoness to share a room with a dragon in the army, it was frowned upon and was likely the reason behind the rumors of their relationship. Neither cared for it, as they had slept in the same room for over half of their lives. No reason why they would stop now.Arcantos didn't say anything at first, simply reflecting on the
dragoness. Teprogia was absolutely exhausted when she joined them from her first lesson on etiquette with Nova, and after they got back to the room, she pretty much collapsed of the sofa right away. Through, Arcantos had managed to rope the fire dragoness in on getting a second bed and slipping Teprogia into it instead of leaving her to snooze on the sofa for the night.He toyed with the idea of just letting her sleep on throughout the night, as it was rare for her to get completely shattered like that, but in the end he dismissed it. She would know that something was up, and would be angry at not being woken like he promised. "Tep." A single word, simply spoken was enough to have the dragoness stirr, sitting up with a yawn and licking her chops as she turned to face Arcantos."Arcy? You have another one of your quasi-dreams?" This question got a small shake of his head, the bipedal dragon frowning as he reflected on the strange events that occurred during his dream... and the importance of the presence within it."No, this was... something else. It was me, in control of myself... at the base of a mountain, trying to get to top of it where someone waiting for me at the top... through I was unable to climb the cliffs at the start. That isn't that important. What is important, is that I knew what the presence was... it had spoken to me whilst I was draining the storm crystal, and gave me the strength to keep everyone alive."That made Teprogia fall silent, attempting to wrap her head around what Arcantos just told her... the fact that it wasn't Arcantos that kept everyone alive whilst draining the storm crystal, but this mysterious presence that spoke to him concerned her greatly... just as much as the fact that Arcanos has not taken the time to actually
inform her voice."Honestly, I thought I had just been hearing things, that the exhaustion and pain made me hallucinate before I slipped into a hazangon-lite trance like Ace said I had. But with this presence now appearing in what is so similar to a quasi-dream, I'm not so sure that's the truth anymore... but why would it wait so long before asking for me like this? It's been eleven days since it spoke to me... did it take that long for it to create this scenario inside my head?" Teprogia's eyes softened when Arcantos continued, his distress growing as he tried to figure out what was going on... and unconsciously telling the earth dragoness exactly why she hadn't heard anything until now. Slipping out of bed, Tep silently padded over to Arcantos, who had taken to mumbling under his breath. Through these were silenced when Tep gently lay a foreclaw over his hand, getting his attention."Its okay Arcantos. We'll work through this together, just like we worked through the other scenarios. So this one is a little different... it doesn't change how we'll solve it. We simply need to wait for it to develop, and when we have another information put our heads together and complete the puzzle. We've managed to do this several times before and got better at it every single time. This will be no different, you'll see."At first, Arcantos just looked silently at his friend, considering her words carefully. Was it really going to be that simple?... "Thanks Tep." Arc said softly, his lips curling up into a gentle smile. "Your right... no point in getting myself worked up over it. We just need to wait like always... even if I did need a reminder about it. What would I do without you?""Freak out over every little thing?" Teprogia offered teasingly, smiling back at Arcantos. At least, not until she propped herself up on the bed, reaching up in order to brush her snout against Arcantos' cheek gently. "Glad to help." She said softly, before dropping back down and turning back for her bed. "Now get back to sleep, I'm sure the others are going to be very curious about our meeting with Temeraire."Whilst the earth dragoness slipped into bed, and soon settled back to sleep, Arcantos didn't lay down right away. Instead, he simply looked at her, a smile on his face as he wondered what he did to deserve such a wonderful friend. Still, the call of sleep was not one to be denied forever, and eventually he lay back down, pulling the covers up and allowing him to slipping into the warm embrace of the night.* * * * * * *And so the days slipped by, with the four dragons hard at work. Whilst the exact relationship that Arcantos had with Temeraire was not shared with the other members of the squad, they were informed that he knew the noble from before the invention of the mag-lev and had been in contact ever since. Some objected to tell an eastern dragon about the fortress, but after Caross scathingly reminded them that Tryndamous had a 'kill all easterners' mentality, they soon quieted down.Every other day, Temeraire invited the four round, supposedly to talk to Arcantos about his powers of magnetism. As planned, this constantly invitations became noticed by the
city of Kuvine, and the nobles began expressing interest into meeting Arcantos, some subtly... others, putting forwards blunt offers that Arcantos had to turn down, citing a commitment to his training and only just having time for these single visits. Not only that, but Teprogia was able to immerse herself fully into her task, taking to Nova's harsh lessons well, and whilst she never stopped being tired afterwards, the she was only completely exhausted after the first. Additionally, with the aid of Temeraire's staff, Teprogia was able to learn much about the nobles of the Kuvine and the current gossip. Information that a lady was pretty much expected to know by heart.Eleven days after the first visit to Temeraire, and Arcantos was visited by the presence once more. The exact same dream, and the exact same results. With little learned or ventured. Then, three days later, the ball was officially announced, to celebrate Lady Sayath's birthday. Invitations were received the day after, and Temerarie's included express interest from the Duke to bring Arcantos around, as he was curious to meet this youngblood who had taken his friend's interest and become the talk of the city.With the fact they were pretty much invited to come and see the Duke as well as finally be revealed to the rest of the nobles... there was no way to back down now. Their preparations were reaching a head, and all that was left was to get the clothing for the three dragons that were to go. Temeraire already had his suit, and took Arcantos to get his own. Meanwhile, Nova dragged Teprogia off once more, this time in order to get her a dress.* * * * * * *"Is this really necessary?" The earth dragoness asked in exasperation as Nova dragged her out of the third dress shop after having spent an hour in it. Teprogia felt like they could've been done from the first shop, she rather liked the blue dress that had been suggested, through Nova was rather cutting about it before taking Teprogia away."Look around you girlie, tell me what you see." Nova said without answering, causing Tep to sigh in annoyance, even as her head began swivelling round the market. There was nothing out of the ordinary she could see, just a normal, if higher-class market. Places to eat out, jewelry shops, book shops, and plenty of clothes shops. Carriages rolling down the streets as dragons walked up and down the marketplace, dragons coming in and out of the shops, or stopping to have a talk with their friends. When Teprogia regaled this to the fire dragoness, she scoffed, pulling them up to a stop near another stop."You obviously haven't been paying that much attention to my lessons. I see the ladies of the city going from shop to shop. Some of them trying to find the perfect dress to make them stand out from the crowd, others are attempting to find the next fashionable trend before it arrives and set themselves apart from pioneering it. A few aren't even shopping, as they already have a custom dress ready, their simply sizing up the competition and silently judging their taste. If we aren't seen taking our time choosing a dress like them, someone will know. The rumors will circulate at the ball, and you'll standing will sharply drop.""Oh." Was all the earth dragoness could manage in response to this rant from Nova. Whilst she had an interest in high society and loved following the gossip, Teprogia was swiftly learning that Nova knew a lot more of how it actually functioned than her... and it was rather disquieting in all
honestly. It made her wonder why Nova wasn't the one going, not her... perhaps it was Nova's knowledge that made her want to avoid it..."Sides, I'm pretty sure you want to make you boyfriend's jaw drop at the sight of you." Nova said, turning away from Teprogia. The earth dragoness uncertainty now rapidly replaced by a familiar irritation leading to a swift response."Not you too." The aggravation in Teprogia's voice making Nova pause, turning to face her as the green dragoness said. "Arcantos is NOT my boyfriend, its bad enough the Caross teases us about it, I won't be so kind if you take that up as well." Nova surprisingly wasn't annoyed or offended at Teprogia's near-threatening reply, instead she almost looked... confused."Wait, so he isn't your boyfriend?" Tep was a little surprised to learn that Nova actually thought that the two were in a relationship, but her irritation was greater and she quickly shook her head."No, we're just friends." Now that got a snort from Nova."Girlie, there's no way in heck that the two of you are 'just friends'." Teprogia actually growled as he anger began to climb. But Nova wasn't done, lifting up a foreclaw to forstel her response. "Look, I don't care if you stay platonic or not. Girls and boys can have strong relationships and not be into any kissy stuff. Not like you don't act like it however. From how you two are around one another, pretty much the entire squad actually honestly believes the two of you are in a
relationship. If you ask me, you're getting all defensive about it cuz you ain't sure just what your feeling for Arcantos." Teprogia was stunned into silence at this, as she realized that Nova was precisely right. Without realizing it, the earth dragoness was getting defensive over she and Arc just being friends because she wasn't sure if she wanted to be more than friend with him... Teprogia was left even more confused and uncertain. Though, she wasn't given much time to think as Nova grabbed her once more and pulled her along."Now come on, let's get your dress and get going. This place is starting to drive me insane out of boredom." Teprogia stumbled, nearly falling over when Nova displayed her strange strength once again. Though she had had quite a bit of experience over the last week or so of staying on her feet, and Nova didn't drag her to far before letting go. Through that was only so she could open the door and usher Tep through into the new clothing store."Ah Nova! Good to see you!" A voice greeted them, the orange bipedal dragoness, with odd green wings was the only other dragon inside the small boutique and came to greet the two of them with a smile. "I presume that this is the lovely Teprogia? Right on the money with her colouration again. Are you sure I can't steal you away to work for me?" "Sorry Eotua, but whilst I might have an eye for colour I'm much more into playing the role instead of dressing them up for it." Nova said with an easy smirk, stepping forwards into order to shake claws with the dragoness, before Nova turned to the confused Teprogia. "Tep, meet an old friend of mine, Eotua. She's been working on your dress for a while now, so how about we see you in it?""Ummm... sure." Teprogia said, still a little stunned by how quickly events was suddenly transpiring. Going from a slow drag as they went from one dress to another, and shop to shop... to the revelation about her feelings for Arcantos... and now the news that a dress had been prepared for her in advance?-"Excellent!" Eotua said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together once in delight. Before stepping away, beckoning Teprogia to follow. "Right this way then!" The earth dragoness didn't have much choice but to follow, being lead to a small changing room at the back of the dress shop and pretty much shoved inside. There, she looked uncertainly at the dress hung up... as it looked to be much too high quality for someone like herself. In Teprogia's eyes, it looked more like a dress for royalty, and not nobility... she did know her dresses at least.Still, she couldn't keep the two dragonesses waiting, especially when it seemed that this dress had been made in advance for her. So gingerly Teprogia took the dress down, and slipped it onto her back. First were her wings through the slits. Then her legs were through the leg holes, and to finish it all up the stomach-bindings were pushed together, a seamless connection that was invisible to the eye. Dress on, Teprogia took a deep breath before stepping out of the curtains so that Eotua and Nova could see it.For the first few minutes, the two dragoness simply stared, making Teprogia uncomfortable to a point where she began to fidget. Yet,
almost as soon as she started to shift, Eotua relaxed into a happy grin. "Excellent! You look even better than I expected! Wait there, I need to go and fetch the head-piece!" As the bipedal dragon scampered away, Nova stepped forwards with a smile."Looking good there Tep. Doubt you'll be stealing the show or anything, but you certainly won't put in a bad showing either." Teprogia smiled shy back at the fire dragon, slowly relaxing now that she had gotten approval from the both of them. Through, with what Nova had said previously, a different question came to her mind first."Do you think he'll like it?""Girle, if his jaw doesn't drop at the sight of you, then that boy simple ain't into girls." Nova said with a casual smirk, ignoring how Teprogia flushed slightly at the implications as Eotua came scampering back... with an odd item in her hands. It almost looked like a net of beads... seeing the looks, Eotua glanced down at it before smiling."Oh, this is eastern design. Decided that as your accompanying Sir Temeraire, it would be best to follow his example with a mixture of western and eastern styles for your outfit. You don't mind that do you?" Teprogia was surprised at this, but didn't have to think much before going ahead and shaking her head. Smiling happily, Eotua slipped forwards to put the head-piece on the earth dragoness, before stepping back to see the results."Oh very nice." Eotua murmured happily, Nova simply nodding in agreement. Seeing that
Teprogia was still a little unsure of herself, Eotua directed her to turn around and examine herself in the changing room mirror... and upon seeing herself fell silent in disbelief. Just staring for a good half a minute, before a gentle nudge from Nova roused her. Tep turned this way, than the other to fully examine the dress and her new image, before turning to Euota, beaming."Its perfect!" At this, the dress-makers grin grew to match Teprogia's, as Nova shook her head slightly in amusement."I'm sooooo glad you think so darling! Now come, we must slip it off and get it stored away in anticipation for the big day!" Once the earth dragoness had slipped out of the dress and was handing it back it over to Eouta, a thought stuck her. Before she could voice it however, the bipedal dragoness glanced at Nova, and said. "Are you suuuuure you don't want me to make you a dress to get your boyfriend's attention?""Please, with how blind, stupid and obvious he is. I doubt a dress will do me any good." Nova said with a snort at this regard, ignoring Teprogia's confused look as to who her 'boyfriend' was. "Honestly, at this rate one of these days I'm just gonna fling Ace onto a nearby bed and bounce on him like a whore. THAT should get his attention if nothing else does!""I'm sure it will darling!" Eotua said with a grin and a giggle, whilst Teprogia did her best imitation of Nova at the sudden crass language and topic of conversation. The earth dragones hurried turned back to Eotua, trying to get that lovely image out of her mind as she blurted out her question."How did you get my measurements before hand? The dress fit me exactly, but I've never been here before.""Got Em from the stores." Nova answered with a casual shrug of her wings. "They have measurements for armour, and I simply lied that your family had asked me to get the measurements for a suit of armour as a gift once the training is complete. They transfer over to a dress easily, especially if you know what you're doing like Eotua here." The last comment was said with a smirk, and to Teprogia's astonishment, Eotua actually flushed slightly as she finished preparing the dress for transportation."Thank you for coming, please do come again. I wouldn't mind getting to know a friend of Nova's better." The dress-maker said with a smile, Teprogia taking both the dress and the invitation was a nod and a thank you herself, before she and Nova left the boutique in order to head back to Temerarie's place and store the dress for the ball. The set-up was complete. All plans had been discussed thoughtfully between the boys, and Nova was satisfied that Teprogia would be able to handle herself at the ball. The shopping was finished, and everyone had their outfits for the balls. The squad knew of the plan and were content to wait a little longer... now the only thing left for them to do was to win over the Duke as an ally against Tryndamous and Kasai.No pressure.